1949
The world sees the birth of the Tres Hombres...
William F. Gibbons, December 16th
Joe Michael (Dusty) Hill May 19th
Frank Beard June 11th

1963
Billy got a Gibson Melody Maker guitar and a Fender Champ Amp for
Christmas.

1966
Billy formed a band called The Coachmen, they later became The Moving
Sidewalks.

1967
99th Floor single is released by Moving Sidewalks.

1968
Moving Sidewalks shared the bill with Jimi Hendrix at four Texas shows.

1969
The name ZZ Top was registered at Harris County Courthouse.

1970
The first line-up of ZZ Top with Billy Gibbons, Lanier Grieg and Dan Mitchell
release their first single on Bill Ham's Scat label, Salt Lick b/w Millers Farm.
Mitchell and Grieg were replaced by Dusty and Frank. Later this year, the
recording of what to become ZZ Top's First Album started at Robin Hood
Brian's Studio.

1971
An intensive schedule of gigging around the south, ZZ Top built a following
from the ground.

1972
Rio Grande Mud got it's first placing in the Billboard Charts at 151 on
May 6th. Francine was the first single to be released in England.

1973
Tres Hombres was released in July, and reached no. 8 in the charts.
Supported Rolling Stones in Honolulu.

1974
On 4th of July ZZ Top played in fron of 80.000 friends at Texas Memorial
Stadium in austin. smashed Elvis record at Nashville, State Fairground
July 9th, and rolling Stones Long Beach Arena record fell in September.

1975
Fandango released in May. In December the album achieved million seller
status, the same month Tres Hombres broke the million barrier.
Featured on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines during the
same week. ZZ Top became the most popular band ever to play the
New Orleans, City Park Stadium.

1976
The World wide Texas Tour starts off in May 29th at Graves Stadium in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Tejas was released by the end of the year.

1977
The Best Of ZZ Top was released, last album on London Records.

1979
After a longer break, Degüello was released, and the tour started off in
November.

1980
ZZ top comes to Europe for the first time, two shows at London,
Hammersmith Odeon. They also appeared on the UK tv show Old Grey
Whistle Test. Headlining the Rockpalast show in Essen, the show was
broadcasted all over Europe.

1981
El Loco released in July. Supported Rolling Stones in US. The El Loco tour
took them back to Eorope again.

1982
Back in Eorope for some festival dates, once again a live tv broadcast
from Dortmund - Rockpop In Concert. At the end of the year the work
began on what to become ZZ Top's biggest selling album.

1983
The now classic Eliminator was released in the spring, and an extensive
world tour to follow. In August they played the Monsters of Rock at
Donington Park, also played one show at the classic Marquee club in
London in October.
Eliminator earned their first Grammy nomination.

1984
The Eliminator world tour ended in Biloxi, February 12th.

1985
Back to Monsters of Rock at Donington, this time as headlining the bill.
The follow up to Eliminator, Afterburner was released. The 212 show long
Afterburner took off on December 3rd in Canada.

1986
The European leg of the tour started with three sell out shows in Sweden
in September.

1987
The Afterburner tour ended in Honolulu in March.

1989
ZZ Top appeared in the movie, Back to the future Pt.3. Wrote the song
Doubleback for the soundtrack as well.

1990
Recycler released. Worldtour starts off once again in Canada on October
2nd.

1991
The Recycler worldtour continues with the European leg, including a special
show at Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit with a few classics in the setlist, like
Francine, Catfish blues, One night with you....

1992
ZZ Top Greatest Hits is released, including two new songs: Gun Love and
Viva Las Vegas.

1993
ZZ Top headlines the Harley Davidson 90th Anniversary Birthday Bash,
June 12th.

1994
Antenna is released, first album on the RCA label. Worldtour starts off in
spring and took them to Europe for some outdoor festivals. Returned
to Europe in December for more dates.

1996
The Continental Safari Tour starts of in London in June. The tour takes
ZZ Top to places they've never played before, like South Africa, Latvia
Estonia, Russia and the Czec Republic. the Rhythmeen album is released.

1997
ZZ Top appears on the halftime show at the Super Bowl final. The Mean
Rhythmeen tour hits Europe in January and Februari.

1998
ZZ Top were inducted into the Music Hall of Fame at the Museum of
the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur, Texas.

1999
The long awaited new XXX album is released, and an extensive US tour
with Lynyrd Skynyrd follows.

2000
US tour continues. European tour got cancelled due to Dusty's illness.

2001
ZZ Top performed at President George W. Bush's inaugural celebration.

2002
ZZ Top plays at the Rodeo Houston Astrodome, Feb 21. Dusty married his
longtime companion Charleen McCroy. A mini tour of several casinos took
place. ZZ Top plays with Brooks & Dunn, a show broadcasted on tv.
European tour, and a re-packed "Greatest Hits" is released just in time
for the tour.

2003
ZZ Top plays the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Reliant Stadium.
Beerdrinkers & Hellaraisers tour starts in April, to promote the long
awaited Mescalero album. In september Mescalero is finally released.